Coquette Maman

Book Review: Kids Cook French by Claudine Pepin

Kids Cook French: Les Enfants Cuisinet a la Francaise
by Claudine Pépin, with Illustrations by Jacques Pépin
Published by: Quarry Books
ISBN-10: 159253953X
8.6 x 0.5 x 10 inches
$18.76 at Amazon

I really love making things in the kitchen with Chloe. Now that she's 7 years old, I thought it would be fun for her to go beyond the world of baking into real cooking. Chloe and I sometimes watch Jacques Pépin's cooking show on PBS. She loves it even more when his granddaughter Shorey is on. One night, Chloe was wondering how old Shorey was so I ended up googling Shorey and found that her mom, Claudine Pépin, daughter of the famed French chef had penned a children's French cookbook last year called Kids Cook French: Les Enfants Cuisinet a la Francaise. I immediately ordered it for Chloe and couldn't be happier with the amazing recipes that are inside. The book design is just beautiful but what makes it unique is that the book is bilingual and all the text and recipes in both English and French. For me this was a huge plus since my daughter is still learning how to read in French. Each page has words for kids to learn and I love the beautiful illustrations by Jacques Pépin himself. Claudine Pépin does a great job at sharing her experiences with her father and reminding us that even though it's a cookbook, to always feel free and experiment with the recipes as well.

What I love the most is that the recipes aren't dumbed down for kids. They are traditional homestyle French recipes like classic Ratatouille (a staple in our home) to entrees like Lamb Chops with Lemon Zest and Herbs of Provence. When we dine out at restaurants, I don't mind paying a full entree price to have her try a unique dish, rather than having her eat the typical fare places have for kids. Since Christmas vacation last month, Chloe and I have been making crepes each Sunday - a recipe we saw from one of Pépin's cooking shows with his granddaughter Shorey. (That recipe is also in this book.) The French have a love for food that starts with the home. I love that notion. Kids Cook French is helpign my daughter to become even more excited to cook as well as eat and try new foods (something that I had a problem with when she was much younger). I'm looking forward to making some yummy recipes from this book with Chloe soon.

Here are some photos of the interior of the book:

There are some recipes from the book on the Quarry Books blog that you can try out now.

• French Ham and Leek Quiche


• Ratatouille


• Whole Roasted Chicken with Herbs of Provence

Purchase Kids Cook French by Claudine Pépin at amazon.com.

Erin Condren's Valentine's Bundle

Just in time to help celebrate Valentine's Day is Erin Condren's Valentine's Bundle ($18). EC calls it (Gal)entine's Day -- which is always good to remember. Your girlfriends know you the best and use February 14th as a day to celebrate your love and friendship with you best gal pals.

Inside the soft pink organza bag is full of paper goodies for you to share the love with everyone, including yourself. The rose gold stylized sticky notes can clip right into your EC Life Planner or notebook. Mine is clipped into my Life Planner right now and I am using some of these to write cute little heart notes to my daughter in her lunch box. There's also a set of 12 rose gold scalloped heart label stickers that are perfect for cards you are making, DIY gifts, and more. There's also a set of 10 compliment cards in new designs that are perfect to give to your special ones. The quality of the paper and the designs are top notch. I can't get enough of Erin Condren's beautiful paper goods!

Here's all the stickers and cards laid out for you to see:

I recently purchased the Erin Condren Notebook and Good to Go Dividers. I just started using it last week for my work/blog related things and am loving it. Finally everthing is in one place and not three or four notebooks scattered around my desk. I plan to do a review on it once I have used it more.

Shop for the Erin Condren Valentine's Bundle at erincondren.com. Sign up for an account with Erin Condren and get a coupon for $10 off your first order.

Review product provided by Erin Condren

How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids

Check out How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids

by Coquette at Mode

Book Review: Mouse Scouts by Sarah Dillard

Mouse Scouts
by Sarah Dillard
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers (Hardcover), Yearling (Paperback)
ISBN-10: 038575602X
5.5 x 0.4 x 7 inches
Age: 7-10 years
$9.44 (Hardcover), $6.99 (Paperback) on Amazon

Mouse Scouts: Make A Difference
by Sarah Dillard
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, Yearling (Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0385756046
5.5 x 0.4 x 7 inches
Age: 7-10 years
$9.44 (Hardcover), $6.99 (Paperback) on Amazon

Out today is a new series of illustrated chapter books that will have your little one squealing with delight. The new Mouse Scouts series by Sarah Dillard is beautifully addictive for kids. The story centers around six mice: Violet, Tigerlily, Hyacinth, Petunia, Junebug and Cricket and their adventures earning their merit badges in the Acorn Scouts. These books came during the holiday break and Chloe (now 7 years old) devoured them in the car while on a road trip to Napa. The stories focus on friendship, nature and making things –– something my daughter loves so much.

The characters are rich and Dillard does a great job creating a personality for each of the six mice. I particularly love her details throughout the book where in between chapters there are excerpts from the Acorn Scouts Manual or a DIY project the mice are making. Along with her illustrations, it's all just too darn cute!

At the end of each book is some simple sheet music and words for "The Acorn Scouts Song". Chloe had me copy it on the printer so it could lay flat and she could play the song with her piano teacher today afterschool.

Today the first two books in the Mouse Scouts series have launched and Chloe can't wait for the next one to be published. As much of a bookworm she is, she is particularly picky about the kinds of chapter books she reads. She loved these books so much she couldn't put it down which is a testament to the amazing job Dillard has done in creating the most adorable Mouse Scouts world.

Illustration via sarahdillard.com

Review books were provided by Random House Kids

Planner Love: Getting Organized for 2016

I'm a total paper junkie. I have always needed to use a notebook or agenda to plan my projects and organize my life. About four years ago, I splurged and got a Louis Vuitton PM (small) agenda. I am always surprised how much I really do use it and need it. I use it all the time for notes, business cards, and daily tasks. The small size is perfect because it fits in most of my handbags and isn't heavy at all. Last summer, I decided to jump on the Erin Condren train and purchased an 18 month Life Planner. I'll be honest the larger size took some getting used to. Because my desk is small, my LV agenda would fit perfectly along with my computer. My Life Planner had to sit on the kitchen table for me to use and refer to. So in November, I revamped things and figured out a better system. I use my Life Planner to manage all of my work projects from my two blogs to my freelance writing for Racked SF and Mode.com's Tend channel. This will help me plan everything better and I realized I loved the Notes section a lot for planning and ideas. So much so I just purchased one of Erin Condren's notebooks. The paper is superb for writing with a felt tip pen. It's dense and doesn't bleed through and I find that I like the colors and vibrancy of the paper. I'll be honest, I did try to do some planner decorating but I found it too time consuming and stickers to be too expensive of a habit to handle. I found a middle ground with some minimal stickers and found that I liked the Erin Condren sticker books pretty darn good for

I also use a lot of thin paper notebooks from Chronicle Books. My favorite are the larger ones they have like my Paris in Color one above. It comes in a set of three and I find these notebooks so useful for quick notes and lists. Sometimes these are transferred in a more coherent manner to my LV agenda or my Life Planner and sometimes they are such jibberish and they are not. Basically, with these thin notebooks I give myself more freedom to just ramble on and not worry about my penmanship or any decorating. I also love the Botanical Notebook Collection with all their pretty colors and flowers.

In December, did a roundup of planners for Tend on Mode.com (see below). I thought it would be fun to add to this post fby adding my a roundup of some cool accessories and supplies.

If you like any of the Erin Condren planners, notebooks and supplies, you can get $10 off your first order via my referral link.

Check out Getting Organized for 2016

by Coquette at Mode

Here are some cool paper goods and supplies to help keep you organized in 2016!

Paris in Color Notebook Collection ($12.65 at Amazon)

Erin Condren Monthly Sticker Book ($15 at Erin Condren)

Erin Condren Do It All Desk Set ($25 at Erin Condren)

Kate Spade Bow Paper Clips - Set of 12 ($12.82 on Amazon)

Kate Spade Gold & Acrylic Stapler ($28 on Amazon)

Marion Smith Designs Planner Stamps ($11.99 on Amazon)
Here's a link to her video on how to use her stamps in your planner.

Clearly Kelly Stamp Pad ($10.86 on Amazon)